When we make music, we don’t anticipate what emotions the listener will feel. We have some input like The Outlaw Ocean that triggers emotions in ourselves, which we then flow into our music. This rather creative, organic process is like a black box — you can’t look into it and just understand how it works — it just happens. 

While working on the project, we found that each sound effect we use evokes stories that have serious impact. For example, when we sample a sound of a gunshot that could have potentially ended someone’s life, we cross a border and know that this is not just musical entertainment anymore. Our goal for our music in this project is to create tension that on one hand reflects dignity, deepness, and wideness and on the other hand, reflects the hard fate of the events that happen on the ocean.

All the stories in The Outlaw Ocean are so fascinating and shocking at the same time. What shocks us the most is how much less a human life seems to be worth on the ocean, not to mention the lack of respect some people show for animal life and the environment. The approaches of the protagonists trying to make a difference left quite an impression. And the story of Lang Long in “Sea Slavery” got deep under our skin.

Schwarz & Funk